Category: Wine and cheese

I rarely drink Pinot Gris, but Ohau Gravel‘s delicate peach blush and mouth-watering spice had me racing for a washed rind cheese. And The Harnett from Kaikoura Cheese was a perfect match. It was love at first bite. Pretty in … Continue reading The Harnett and Pinot Gris

Cheese was the last thing I expected to find in Phnom Pehn, let alone good cheese. Testament to the French, cheese, wine, coffee, charcuterie and bread are remains of their colonial influence. Atop our riverfront terrace we nibbled … Continue reading Cheese in Cambodia

30 Foodies, 6 cheeses, 3 wines, a sommelier and a cheese geek. Last night’s cheese and wine tasting at Elements Café was awesome. Organised by the fabulous Lucy Mutch from Wellington Foodies, we gathered to taste a selection of winners from the New Zealand Specialist Cheese Association Awards. I was in charge of the fromage, Jules van Cruysen from MacVine International provided the wine and Kate Hardwick helped cut and plate up. I’d chosen six cheeses with the help of James and Tara from The Dairy in Ponsonby. I’d swung by after the cheese awards and tasted my way through … Continue reading Cheese and wine tasting with awesome Wellington foodies

Do you get stuck choosing cheese? Follow my 5 tips for a stylish cheeseboard and banish the rabbit in headlights look next time you’re at a cheese counter. A couple of well-chosen cheeses, an easy wine and some quality bread – superb! Today’s board, through simple, was a great reward after working hard in the garden. The ivory white cheese is Cilantro’s Billy the Kid Goat Cheddar, the orange-blue Talbot Forest’s Waihi Blue. Cilantro Artisan cheese from Hamilton Talbot Forest from Geraldine My 5 top tips to easy cheeseboard 1. Choose contrasting colours, shapes or textures. I paired fruity, hard … Continue reading 5 tips for simple, stylish cheeseboards

There is a reverence to the way my friend Kate breaks Mozzarella di Bufala. The same gentleness of hand, sense of purpose you see in a priest breaking bread. For fresh buffalo milk mozzarella is indeed a special cheese and in this post I want to understand why. First of all though you have to banish all memories of those rubbery gourds of commercial mozzarella, vacuum packed and available in the supermarket. The only similarity is that both are stretchy when heated. One is pizza cheese, mild and factory produced, the other is an Italian icon, a national treasure, made … Continue reading Buffalo mozzarella and Insalata Caprese – heady fragrant joy

Goats cheese and kiwifuit? With basil? On toast? OK Madame Fromage, Cheese Courtesan from Philadelphia, you got me tempted. What an unexpected pairing of our national fruit, and by an American, this combination turned out to be a revelation! A hot looking canapé, simple and fairly inexpensive, it’s bound to become a staple this coming summer. Just smear fresh goats cheese on bruschetta, add a slice of kiwifruit and a jaunty spring of basil. Easy as. Pair with a G & T or a chilled Sav. Delicious. I used Meadowcroft Chevré, a New Zealand-made, French-style, fresh goats cheese made by … Continue reading Goats cheese and kiwifruit – strange but true…

Last night was the first time I added wine to my cheese board at Cheesy Bookclub and the girls loved it! I’d tried a cheese and wine combo before inspired by Fiona Beckett’s post on her Cheeselover blog and wanted to share the revelation. Her pairing of Gewurtz, Munster and cumin seeds a) made me feel like a true cheese person, and b) was a sublime combination. A new turn on my journey as a cheese nerd – wine and cheese. But if I had a strong cheese to eat at the end of a cheese tasting, what would go … Continue reading Wine and cheese tastings